The invention concerns an analytical system especially for carrying out patient self-monitoring such as blood sugar tests comprising a replaceable magazine for providing a plurality of test units that react to an analyte and a measuring device for (successively) processing the test units wherein the magazine is provided with a code that can be registered by the measuring device. The invention additionally concerns a method for operating such a system.
Such systems are primarily used by diabetics for blood sugar self-monitoring that is carried out several times daily as part of an insulin treatment. In order that laymen can also carry out the required steps in a simple and rapid manner, it is desirable to have a substantially automated measuring process in a compact hand-held device. This should enable a more simple handling and greater flexibility for the user which is achieved by providing test elements in magazines that can be used in measuring devices. The test is generally processed by a chemical detection reaction whose progress or end point is detected optically or electrochemically. The correlation between the measured signal that is obtained and the analyte concentration is subject to certain variations which can differ from manufacturing batch to manufacturing batch. Codes on the magazines have already been introduced in order to take into account these variations and they are used to correct the measured signal in the instrument in such a manner that the output value has a better agreement with the actual analyte concentration than the crude signal.
A hand-held analyser into which a replaceable magazine can be inserted is known from WO2005/065828. The said magazine in the form of a drum magazine can have several chambers each of which can hold one test strip distributed in the circumferential direction wherein the front ends of the magazine can be closed with sealing foil and the sealing foil is pierced when a strip is removed. Especially after a temporary removal of a drum magazine an ineffective actuation of the removal device can be prevented by means of the fact that a check device generates a signal when the chamber located in the removal position is not closed by a sealing foil.